Sounas receives two DoD STTR grants to develop microwave and optical non-reciprocal devices

Electromagnetic devices play a critical role in wireless communications, biomedical devices and information processing systems — and making these ubiquitous technologies lighter, smaller, more efficient and easier to manufacture is a continuous challenge. New research in the Wayne State University College of Engineering aims to help meet these needs.

Dimitrios Sounas, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Wayne State, has been awarded two Phase 1 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants totaling $130,000 from the Department of Defense. These funds are awarded to encourage collaboration between universities and companies with a goal of technology commercialization.

For these projects, “Non-reciprocal metasurfaces for photonic integrated circuits” and “Magnetic-free non-reciprocal and topological integrated microwave components based on tunable filter networks,” Sounas will work with Nanohmics, a company based in Austin, Texas that specializes in the design and fabrication of nanophotonic devices.

In one project, Sounas will use a technique he has previously proposed based on circuits with properties that change in time according to carefully selected patterns. The objective is to develop nonreciprocal devices that can be used in radar and communications systems.

The target of the second project is the infrared frequency range, with a goal of using such devices for improving the stability of infrared laser sources. According to Sounas, who also directs the Wayne Applied Electromagnetics Group, the methodology is based on passive materials, such as silicon, which are common in the fabrication of nanophotonic components, thus are expected to improve the cost and efficiency of these systems.